http://gallery.arts.psu.edu/items/browse?collection=5&output=atom2018-03-20T00:11:26-04:00Omekahttp://gallery.arts.psu.edu/items/show/183John Ruskin was a prolific and influential writer on a wide range of subjects throughout much of the nineteenth century—he published his first article, on the coloration of the Rhine in a natural history journal, when he was just 15 years old, in 1835. He was keenly interested in art, and he regularly focused his attention, particularly early in his career, on the significance of British watercolors. The interest extended to painting. Ruskin took lessons while still a teenager with Copley Fielding, and later, in his last year at Oxford, studied with James Duffield Harding. The appeal, though, was not so much professional—he never sold his work—as it was academic. Ruskin, it seems, felt in constant need of accurately recording his visual experiences.

The small watercolors on view here have likely been culled from what must have been hundreds of sketchbooks in which Ruskin transcribed the myriad of subjects, from a single leaf to whole city blocks, that attracted his eye over the course of his travels. It’s been suggested, but yet to be confirmed, that Winter Scene may have been drawn during one of the artist’s many visits to the Lake District in northwest England.

]]>2015-02-19T17:12:31-05:00

Title

Winter Scene

Creator

Attributed to John Ruskin
English, 1819–1900

Description

John Ruskin was a prolific and influential writer on a wide range of subjects throughout much of the nineteenth century—he published his first article, on the coloration of the Rhine in a natural history journal, when he was just 15 years old, in 1835. He was keenly interested in art, and he regularly focused his attention, particularly early in his career, on the significance of British watercolors. The interest extended to painting. Ruskin took lessons while still a teenager with Copley Fielding, and later, in his last year at Oxford, studied with James Duffield Harding. The appeal, though, was not so much professional—he never sold his work—as it was academic. Ruskin, it seems, felt in constant need of accurately recording his visual experiences.

The small watercolors on view here have likely been culled from what must have been hundreds of sketchbooks in which Ruskin transcribed the myriad of subjects, from a single leaf to whole city blocks, that attracted his eye over the course of his travels. It’s been suggested, but yet to be confirmed, that Winter Scene may have been drawn during one of the artist’s many visits to the Lake District in northwest England.

Contributor

Palmer Museum of Art, The Pennsylvania State University, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Robert M. Struble

Identifier

UC 81.11

Rights

This image is posted publicly for non-profit educational uses, excluding printed publication. Other uses are not permitted.

Format

Ink, watercolor, and gouache

]]>http://gallery.arts.psu.edu/items/show/182Medmenham Abbey, which stands along the Thames River about thirty miles due west of downtown London, passed into private hands in 1547 and slowly fell into disrepair. Later owners added considerably to the ruins, including a substantial manor house (which in the 1750s served as the headquarters for Sir Francis Dashwood’s infamous Hellfire Club). Given Ruskin’s admiration for Gothic architecture—he held it as a model of individualized artistic expression long lost to the efficiencies of mass production—it’s perhaps not surprising that, upon encountering the abbey during his travels, he should capture only the remaining sections of the original building.]]>2015-02-19T17:11:01-05:00

Title

Medmenham Abbey, Thames

Creator

Attributed to John Ruskin
English, 1819–1900

Date

c. 1850

Description

Built by Cistercian monks in the later years of the twelfth century, Medmenham Abbey, which stands along the Thames River about thirty miles due west of downtown London, passed into private hands in 1547 and slowly fell into disrepair. Later owners added considerably to the ruins, including a substantial manor house (which in the 1750s served as the headquarters for Sir Francis Dashwood’s infamous Hellfire Club). Given Ruskin’s admiration for Gothic architecture—he held it as a model of individualized artistic expression long lost to the efficiencies of mass production—it’s perhaps not surprising that, upon encountering the abbey during his travels, he should capture only the remaining sections of the original building.

Contributor

Palmer Museum of Art, The Pennsylvania State University, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Robert M. Struble

Identifier

UC 81.13

Rights

This image is posted publicly for non-profit educational uses, excluding printed publication. Other uses are not permitted.

Format

Watercolor and gouache

]]>http://gallery.arts.psu.edu/items/show/181William Callow began his career at the age of 11, when he was hired by the engraver Thomas Fielding to color prints and assist with aquatinting. The association, which became a formal apprenticeship in 1825 and included further training with one of Fielding’s brothers, the eminent watercolorist Copley Fielding, brought him to Paris in 1829. When the apprenticeship concluded in 1833, Callow opened his own studio, initially with another British expatriate working in the city, Thomas Shotter Boys, who encouraged the younger artist to concentrate on his watercolor studies. Success came quickly. After exhibiting a watercolor in the Salon of 1834, he was invited to give drawing lessons to the family of King Louis Philippe, a position that quickly earned him the offer of more commissions than he could handle. His connection with T. S. Boys led to an invitation to exhibit with the Society of Painters in Water Colours. He was elected an Associate of the Society in 1838, and the growing interest in his work in England encouraged him to return to London in 1841. Callow became a full member of the Society in 1848.

The sheet on view here was in all probability executed during one of three trips to Switzerland made by Callow between 1838 and 1846. The most likely date is 1840, when he is known to have spent some time painting on Lake Geneva, near Lausanne and Vervey, where such views of the towering Alps are common. Far from the kind of finished composition Callow would have presented for exhibition, this sketch is more of an aide-mémoire, made sur le motif and then tucked away for reference when he returned to his studio.

]]>2015-02-19T17:08:06-05:00

Title

Swiss Mountains and Lake

Creator

William Callow
English, 1812–1908

Date

c. 1838–46

Description

William Callow began his career at the age of 11, when he was hired by the engraver Thomas Fielding to color prints and assist with aquatinting. The association, which became a formal apprenticeship in 1825 and included further training with one of Fielding’s brothers, the eminent watercolorist Copley Fielding, brought him to Paris in 1829. When the apprenticeship concluded in 1833, Callow opened his own studio, initially with another British expatriate working in the city, Thomas Shotter Boys, who encouraged the younger artist to concentrate on his watercolor studies. Success came quickly. After exhibiting a watercolor in the Salon of 1834, he was invited to give drawing lessons to the family of King Louis Philippe, a position that quickly earned him the offer of more commissions than he could handle. His connection with T. S. Boys led to an invitation to exhibit with the Society of Painters in Water Colours. He was elected an Associate of the Society in 1838, and the growing interest in his work in England encouraged him to return to London in 1841. Callow became a full member of the Society in 1848.

The sheet on view here was in all probability executed during one of three trips to Switzerland made by Callow between 1838 and 1846. The most likely date is 1840, when he is known to have spent some time painting on Lake Geneva, near Lausanne and Vervey, where such views of the towering Alps are common. Far from the kind of finished composition Callow would have presented for exhibition, this sketch is more of an aide-mémoire, made sur le motif and then tucked away for reference when he returned to his studio.

Contributor

Palmer Museum of Art, The Pennsylvania State University, Gift of Mr. Roy Davis

Identifier

75.69

Rights

This image is posted publicly for non-profit educational uses, excluding printed publication. Other uses are not permitted.

Format

Watercolor; 9-3/4 x 17-1/8 in. (24.7 x 43.5 cm)

]]>http://gallery.arts.psu.edu/items/show/180A member of a prominent banking family from Nottingham, Thomas Wright is perhaps best known for building Upton Hall, just west of Newark, which today houses the British Horological Institute. Whether Wright practiced in his family’s business has yet to be ascertained; however, records show he was certainly a seasoned watercolorist, exhibiting regularly at the Royal Academy from 1801 through 1837.
The view depicts an unknown gentleman—the illegible inscription precludes a proper identification—sketching in the Swiss Alps along the Reuss River, between the city of Altdorf, on Lake Lucerne, and the Devil’s Bridge, or Teufelsbrücke, which spans the Ruess about ten miles further south. The sheet is undated, but was possibly executed as early as 1802, when Wright was known to be traveling, and sketching, in central Switzerland.]]>2015-02-19T17:06:17-05:00

Title

View Near Devil's Bridge

Creator

Thomas Wright
English, 1773–1845

Description

A member of a prominent banking family from Nottingham, Thomas Wright is perhaps best known for building Upton Hall, just west of Newark, which today houses the British Horological Institute. Whether Wright practiced in his family’s business has yet to be ascertained; however, records show he was certainly a seasoned watercolorist, exhibiting regularly at the Royal Academy from 1801 through 1837.

The view depicts an unknown gentleman—the illegible inscription precludes a proper identification—sketching in the Swiss Alps along the Reuss River, between the city of Altdorf, on Lake Lucerne, and the Devil’s Bridge, or Teufelsbrücke, which spans the Ruess about ten miles further south. The sheet is undated, but was possibly executed as early as 1802, when Wright was known to be traveling, and sketching, in central Switzerland.

Contributor

Palmer Museum of Art, The Pennsylvania State University, Gift of Mr. Roy Davis

Identifier

75.65

Rights

This image is posted publicly for non-profit educational uses, excluding printed publication. Other uses are not permitted.

Format

Watercolor and graphite; 8 x 10-5/8 in. (20.3 x 27 cm)

]]>http://gallery.arts.psu.edu/items/show/179A native of Scotland, William Leighton Leitch tried his hand at a variety of odd jobs, from house painting to snuffbox decoration, before finding steady employment in 1824 as a scene painter at the Theatre Royal in his hometown of Glasgow. When a fire closed the theater’s doors in 1829, Leitch moved to London, where he supported himself with similar work while taking drawing lessons from Copley Fielding. In 1833, he elected to further his training by making a four-year tour of Europe, during which he made important contacts that won him numerous students, many of them wealthy and well connected, upon his return to London in 1837. The most important among these was Charlotte Canning, a lady in waiting for Queen Victoria, who after noticing Canning’s progress requested lessons for herself from the artist. Leitch recorded their first meeting in 1843:

"I showed how light, that is, brilliancy, was produced by yellow ochre, pink madder, and cobalt blue, and darkness, deeper than black, by sepia, purple lake, and indigo—all primitive colors. Using these two classes of colours with their compounds, I then did skies, distance, middle-ground, foreground, white clouds, and their shadows, no whiter than a lady’s satin dress; and then with the same colours, a black dress full of colour and shadow, but with no black in it. After attending to this part of the lesson with great earnestness, the Queen turned to Lady Canning and said, “This is wonderful.”"

The lessons with the Queen, which soon extended to several of her children, continued for over twenty years. The Scottish character of Shepherd with His Flock at Sunset suggests that it may have been drawn in August of 1862, when Leitch accompanied the Royal Family to Balmoral Castle, in Aberdeenshire.

]]>2015-02-19T17:03:43-05:00

Title

Shepherd with His Flock at Sunset

Creator

William Leighton Leitch
British, 1804–1883

Date

1862

Description

A native of Scotland, William Leighton Leitch tried his hand at a variety of odd jobs, from house painting to snuffbox decoration, before finding steady employment in 1824 as a scene painter at the Theatre Royal in his hometown of Glasgow. When a fire closed the theater’s doors in 1829, Leitch moved to London, where he supported himself with similar work while taking drawing lessons from Copley Fielding. In 1833, he elected to further his training by making a four-year tour of Europe, during which he made important contacts that won him numerous students, many of them wealthy and well connected, upon his return to London in 1837. The most important among these was Charlotte Canning, a lady in waiting for Queen Victoria, who after noticing Canning’s progress requested lessons for herself from the artist. Leitch recorded their first meeting in 1843:

"I showed how light, that is, brilliancy, was produced by yellow ochre, pink madder, and cobalt blue, and darkness, deeper than black, by sepia, purple lake, and indigo—all primitive colors. Using these two classes of colours with their compounds, I then did skies, distance, middle-ground, foreground, white clouds, and their shadows, no whiter than a lady’s satin dress; and then with the same colours, a black dress full of colour and shadow, but with no black in it. After attending to this part of the lesson with great earnestness, the Queen turned to Lady Canning and said, “This is wonderful.”"

The lessons with the Queen, which soon extended to several of her children, continued for over twenty years. The Scottish character of Shepherd with His Flock at Sunset suggests that it may have been drawn in August of 1862, when Leitch accompanied the Royal Family to Balmoral Castle, in Aberdeenshire.

Contributor

Palmer Museum of Art, The Pennsylvania State University

Identifier

2013.22

Rights

This image is posted publicly for non-profit educational uses, excluding printed publication. Other uses are not permitted.

Format

Title

Creator

Contributor

Palmer Museum of Art, The Pennsylvania State University, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Spencer

Identifier

76.90

Rights

This image is posted publicly for non-profit educational uses, excluding printed publication. Other uses are not permitted.

Format

Watercolor and graphite; 10-1/2 x 14 in. (26.7 x 35.6 cm)

]]>http://gallery.arts.psu.edu/items/show/177Initially destined to follow his father into the medical profession, Peter De Wint, who had displayed a passion for drawing since childhood, managed to persuade his parents to allow him a career in art. In 1802, he arranged an apprenticeship with John Raphael Smith, an engraver who excelled in mezzotint. The contract was set for eight years; however, a growing association with the watercolorist John Varley prompted De Wint to purchase his release just half way through the obligation. His relationship with Varley introduced him to the informal academy operated by Dr. Thomas Monro, where he worked along side other artists who were developing an interest in watercolor, including Thomas Girtin, whose approach strongly influenced De Wint, as it had Varley earlier. Because of his ties to the Monro Group, he was asked to join the Society of Painters in Water Colours, with which he exhibited annually between 1810 and 1818, and again from 1825 until his death in 1849. Unlike most of the members of the Society, De Wint remained comfortable showing, and studying, at the Royal Academy as well, where his long-time housemate and future brother-in-law, William Hilton, was firmly established.

The Palmer Museum is fortunate to hold two paintings by De Wint that demonstrate the range of technique practiced by many artists during the Golden Age of British watercolors. To the right, In Windsor Great Park represents the quick sketch, executed directly out-of-doors in perhaps as little as fifteen minutes in order to capture the fleeting effect of a brilliant noontime sun. De Wint drew these by the hundreds, and regardless of the seemingly tentative quality, successfully marketed such sheets throughout his career. Warwick Castle, on the other hand, was intended as an “exhibition watercolor.” De Wint began the composition with a swiftly washed drawing, created on the spot, which is now housed in the British Museum. This sketch, together with whatever other studies he would have made of the subject sur le motif, were later consulted in his studio during the creation of the large, richly colored and highly finished painting on view here. Likely mounted in a linen liner and gilded frame, Warwick Castle would have more than held its own against any oil landscape that accompanied its public debut, quite possibly at one of the Royal Academy’s annual exhibitions during the mid-1820s.

]]>2015-02-19T17:00:24-05:00

Title

Warwick Castle

Creator

Peter De Wint
English, 1784–1849

Date

c. 1823–27

Description

Initially destined to follow his father into the medical profession, Peter De Wint, who had displayed a passion for drawing since childhood, managed to persuade his parents to allow him a career in art. In 1802, he arranged an apprenticeship with John Raphael Smith, an engraver who excelled in mezzotint. The contract was set for eight years; however, a growing association with the watercolorist John Varley prompted De Wint to purchase his release just half way through the obligation. His relationship with Varley introduced him to the informal academy operated by Dr. Thomas Monro, where he worked along side other artists who were developing an interest in watercolor, including Thomas Girtin, whose approach strongly influenced De Wint, as it had Varley earlier. Because of his ties to the Monro Group, he was asked to join the Society of Painters in Water Colours, with which he exhibited annually between 1810 and 1818, and again from 1825 until his death in 1849. Unlike most of the members of the Society, De Wint remained comfortable showing, and studying, at the Royal Academy as well, where his long-time housemate and future brother-in-law, William Hilton, was firmly established.

The Palmer Museum is fortunate to hold two paintings by De Wint that demonstrate the range of technique practiced by many artists during the Golden Age of British watercolors. To the right, In Windsor Great Park represents the quick sketch, executed directly out-of-doors in perhaps as little as fifteen minutes in order to capture the fleeting effect of a brilliant noontime sun. De Wint drew these by the hundreds, and regardless of the seemingly tentative quality, successfully marketed such sheets throughout his career. Warwick Castle, on the other hand, was intended as an “exhibition watercolor.” De Wint began the composition with a swiftly washed drawing, created on the spot, which is now housed in the British Museum. This sketch, together with whatever other studies he would have made of the subject sur le motif, were later consulted in his studio during the creation of the large, richly colored and highly finished painting on view here. Likely mounted in a linen liner and gilded frame, Warwick Castle would have more than held its own against any oil landscape that accompanied its public debut, quite possibly at one of the Royal Academy’s annual exhibitions during the mid-1820s.

Contributor

Palmer Museum of Art, The Pennsylvania State University, Gift of Alumni and Friends of The Pennsylvania State University

Identifier

72.2

Rights

This image is posted publicly for non-profit educational uses, excluding printed publication. Other uses are not permitted.

Format

Watercolor; 15 x 23 in. (38.1 x 58.5 cm)

]]>http://gallery.arts.psu.edu/items/show/176The son of a Birmingham blacksmith, David Cox possessed a constitution that was ill suited for work in a forge, so as a youth he was sent to study drawing with the noted landscape artist Joseph Barber. At the age of 15, he was apprenticed to a trinket manufacturer, for whom he painted miniature portraits and landscapes for lockets and snuffboxes. The apprenticeship ended abruptly just two years later—his master committed suicide in 1800—so Cox found work as a scene painter for theaters in Birmingham and, after 1804, London. After marrying in 1808, he quit the theater and, adopting watercolor as his preferred medium, settled into a career as a drawing master. He exhibited regularly from 1809, first with the short-lived Associated Artists in Water Colours, and then with the Society of Painters in Water Colours, which elected him a member in 1813.

Cox managed to support himself comfortably through teaching, mostly by taking private students but also by accepting numerous salaried appointments, including a position at a girl’s school in Hereford between 1814 and 1827. In 1841, he returned to his hometown of Birmingham, settling in the suburb of Harborne. Beginning in 1844, he summered annually in the small town of Betws-y-Coed in North Wales, and from there he traveled often in search of motifs among the numerous seaside resort towns that dot the northern coast, such as Rhyl, the subject of the watercolor on view here. Although the sheet is undated, it can be assigned with some confidence to 1854, the date of a second, nearly identical watercolor of the Rhyl sands that Cox is known to have painted in August of that year.

]]>2015-02-19T16:57:55-05:00

Title

Bathing Huts, Rhyl, North Wales

Creator

David Cox
English, 1783–1859

Date

1854

Description

The son of a Birmingham blacksmith, David Cox possessed a constitution that was ill suited for work in a forge, so as a youth he was sent to study drawing with the noted landscape artist Joseph Barber. At the age of 15, he was apprenticed to a trinket manufacturer, for whom he painted miniature portraits and landscapes for lockets and snuffboxes. The apprenticeship ended abruptly just two years later—his master committed suicide in 1800—so Cox found work as a scene painter for theaters in Birmingham and, after 1804, London. After marrying in 1808, he quit the theater and, adopting watercolor as his preferred medium, settled into a career as a drawing master. He exhibited regularly from 1809, first with the short-lived Associated Artists in Water Colours, and then with the Society of Painters in Water Colours, which elected him a member in 1813.

Cox managed to support himself comfortably through teaching, mostly by taking private students but also by accepting numerous salaried appointments, including a position at a girl’s school in Hereford between 1814 and 1827. In 1841, he returned to his hometown of Birmingham, settling in the suburb of Harborne. Beginning in 1844, he summered annually in the small town of Betws-y-Coed in North Wales, and from there he traveled often in search of motifs among the numerous seaside resort towns that dot the northern coast, such as Rhyl, the subject of the watercolor on view here. Although the sheet is undated, it can be assigned with some confidence to 1854, the date of a second, nearly identical watercolor of the Rhyl sands that Cox is known to have painted in August of that year.

Contributor

Palmer Museum of Art, The Pennsylvania State University

Identifier

76.7

Rights

This image is posted publicly for non-profit educational uses, excluding printed publication. Other uses are not permitted.

Format

Title

Untitled

Creator

Circle of John Varley
English, 19th century

Description

The author of this modest sketch did not necessarily work directly with John Varley, whose immense popularity, owed in part to the two books on drawing that he published between 1815 and 1820, inspired countless imitators.

Contributor

Palmer Museum of Art, The Pennsylvania State University

Identifier

77.60

Rights

This image is posted publicly for non-profit educational uses, excluding printed publication. Other uses are not permitted.